Kings
by Dear Pigfarts. Love the Doctor
Summary: Dumbledore only told one person what happened the night his sister died.


They looked at each other, their stares intense and eyes not moving, not wanting to be the first to break contact. The first took a deep breath, his hands clenched by his sides and his nostrils flaring. The second had one hand in his pocket, gripping his wand tight, ready to use it if provoked. The wind swirled around them as they stood on the street, the streetlights flickering as the men gave off surges of power. Neither knew which was more powerful, and neither truly wanted to find out. The first opened his hands, moving quickly to retrieve his wand. The other acted just as fast and held his wand arm out straight, threatening the man in front of him. Gellert Grindelwald swallowed, his heart pounding in his ears. Albus Dumbledore tried as hard as he could to stop his hand from showing the fear within, but to no avail.

"You're scared, my friend," Gellert called, controlling his voice to show only anger. Albus frowned, his heart breaking with the thought that his best friend hated him.  
"I don't want to hurt you, Gellert, but you know I will if you refuse to back down!" he yelled back. Gellert sneered, a small smile forming on his lips.  
"You don't have the innards to hurt me, Al, I know you better than anyone," he winked at Albus, causing him a sharp intake of breath. Albus narrowed his eyes at the man and growled.  
"You know NOTHING ABOUT ME!" He screamed, swiping his wand towards the ground and accidentally sending a spell soaring in the direction of a near-by tree, which cracked in half and toppled to the ground.

"Stop this madness!" Aberforth yelled, his arms outstretched as the wind picked up, "Albus, you're going to cause a storm!" He sighed looking at the wand clenched in his brothers hand. He looked back at his sister who stood concealed by the door, her face peeping out to get a look at the fight. "Inside, Ari, please!" He begged, but her attention was not on him. She did not even look like she had heard her second brothers words. Aberforth's attention was drawn back to the men when he heard Gellert yell:

"You are not who I thought you were! You're too weak!" He pointed his wand threateningly at Albus, his face looked wild. "Too weak, full of love. We were going to rule the world!"  
"Not in that way, Gellert! We are not supposed to abuse or mistreat Muggles so we can be superior! A good leader does not need to stoop to that level!" His voice quivered as he looked at Grindelwald. "Surely you have some love in your heart," as he said this, he dropped his wand.  
"None," Gellert sneered, almost spitting the word out. Albus turned his head away, his features contorted in excruciating pain. He bit it back as he looked at Aberforth.  
"Abe, this has nothing to do with you. Get Arianna out of here!" He spoke with a new conviction. Gellert shook his head.  
"No, Aberforth. You are not to move," both of the other men looked at Gellert as he said this; his wand was now trained at Aberforth's heart. Gellert held up his hand in Albus' direction; who had stepped forward, his wand outstretched.  
"I wouldn't do that, Al," his face held a smirk that sent shivers through his opponents' bones. "If you move to stop me, Abe-y here… well, let's just say he wouldn't be able to help you cover up your sister anymore." Albus pursed his lips, thinking hard on how to help his brother and prevent his friend from destroying the world.

"You have never had your heart fully in this, Albus. From the very start you were showing hesitation. You care too much about the casualties to see the bigger war," Grindelwald yelled. Albus used his preoccupation with his monologue to side step closer to his family. His eyes were still trained on Gellert, but his feet were able to inch closer, and closer.  
"Haven't I told you, countless times, how excellent we could have made this word. With you and me as it's Kings... the possibilities are endless!" Albus was finally close enough that one long stride and the brothers could be touching.

"Abe, now!" Albus yelled, his hand out stretched, fingers spread wide. Aberforth lunged at his brother and clutched to his arm as Albus twisted in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hand grab the back of his cloak quickly, and felt someone else collide with his other side.

He hated riding passenger in an apparation. It felt wrong, unnatural.

They landed in a dusty field outside their old home, each of them coughing as four bodies landed in the dirt. Albus and Aberforth scrambled for their wands, getting to their feet faster than Gellert could. His advantage, though, was something the brothers failed to notice. They gripped their wands tighter as they saw him stand, his arm draped across her shoulder and his wand at her neck.  
"Put down your wands, boys," Gellert smiled, his eyes sparkling malevolently.  
"Let her go, Gellert," Albus pleaded, his wand hand still trained at Gellerts' head. Aberforth nodded, his wand still high in the air.  
"You don't want me to hurt her, bub," Gellert said and reveled in the reaction he got from the use of Albus' nickname his mother used to use. Albus looked torn, his eyes flicked to Aberforth and his shoulders slumped as he dropped his hands to his side. He held them up in submission then looked to Aberforth again.  
"Stop," he said.  
"No, Albus!" Aberforth replied, his eyes were wide as he looked at his brother, his face portrayed one emotion: betrayal. Albus turned back to his friend.  
"Gellert, if you ever cared for me, you'll let her go," he said, imploring him. Albus' eyes showed his desperation as he practically begged on his knees for the release of his sister.

Gellert started to laugh.  
"I already told you, D... I _don't_ care for you. Never have! You were just a way to," he looked at him with a wiggle of an eyebrow, "pass time." Albus looked furious at this, he quickly swiped up at Grindelwald, his wand sending a spell right towards him. Gellert managed to evade it, but in the progress he lost his hold on Arianna. She ran quickly into Aberforths' arms.

The two men continued to fight, their spells becoming larger and more dangerous. Each time they exchanged curses, one of them would growl slightly, both getting angrier and angrier. Aberforth watched silently, clutching his sister.

Suddenly there was a piercing scream and the whole world seemed to stop. Aberforth took in the scene before him. Both men had shot spells at each other, the one spell neither of them will admit to. The world seemed frozen and all he heard was Arianna's voice.

"No more fighting, no more _death."_

There was a giant flash of light and his arms felt strangely heavy. Aberforth was confused until he looked down. His heart broke as he realised what he was holding. He lowered her to the ground slowly. His eyes moved back and forth across her face, trying to understand what had happened, why her face was so colourless, why she was so cold.  
"What have you done?" He breathed, so soft the others could barely hear it. They had stopped their fighting after the flash, now they were just staring. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Aberforth screamed, his tear stained cheeks turned to face Albus and Gellert, their stomachs dropping at the sight of him.

 _What had they done?_

* * *

 **A/N: '10 Characters, 10 Prompts': Aberforth Dumbledore/Passenger.**


End file.
